Citizens choose safety over seafood as Panaji fish market reopens to tepid response

PANAJI: The Panaji fish market reopened on Monday after being non-operational for over a month, ever since the Covid curfew was imposed in the state.
Only a handful of fish vendors sold frozen fish sourced from factories and some shrimp sourced from local fishermen. The first day of sale, however, evoked lukewarm response from customers.
“Staying away from the market for nearly six weeks was very difficult, but we had to follow the rules in the face of rising Covid-19 deaths. Even though cases are decreasing, the virus has not gone away, but we decided to restart fish sale for the sake of our survival. We requested the municipal commissioner to permit us to restart our business,” Deandrina Fernandes, a fish vendor, said.
A few vendors have been allowed to operate, provided they follow Covid-appropriate behaviour such as wearing a mask and maintaining social distance while doing business.
“Only 50% of the total strength of fish vendors were permitted in the market. Till the time Covid-19 is still rampant, we will ensure that this distance is maintained,” CCP municipal commissioner Agnelo Fernandes, said.
With the heavy rainfall warning deterring traditional ramponnkars from venturing into the sea, only a small quantity of fresh fish was being sold.
“There were barely 100 people who showed up at the fish market and even the few vendors who started operations were struggling to sell fish by 3pm – by which time the market was shut,” said fish vendor Manjunath Nayak.